The Big East moved quickly to replace Rutgers and braced for more possible departures, getting Tulane and East Carolina to agree to join the re-invented conference in 2014. "I would go as far to say as this is a historic day for Tulane University ... the Big East is coming to the Big Easy," school President Scott Cowen said Tuesday. Tulane, in New Orleans, and East Carolina, in Greenville, N.C., will make it six Conference USA schools to join the Big East in the last two years. Rutgers announced a week ago that it would leave the Big East for the Big Ten. Cowen and athletic director Rick Dickson said serious talks with the Big East began about a week ago. "This is an unprecedented opportunity to join a national conference," Dickson said. ECU athletic director Terry Holland said an offer to join the Big East came Sunday. "It was a quick turnaround," he said. Rutgers would like to join the Big Ten by 2014, along with Maryland, but the Scarlet Knights have left their departure date from the Big East ambiguous. Conference bylaws require members to give the league notification of two years and three months before departing, but the Big East has negotiated early exits for Syracuse, Pittsburgh and West Virginia in the past year. West Virginia joined the Big 12 this year. Syracuse and Pitt will begin play in the Atlantic Coast Conference in September. With Maryland leaving the ACC, there has been strong speculation that Connecticut or Louisville will be the next to leave the Big East as the Terps replacement. If either does, the conference is still on target to have 12 football members in 2014, just not the same ones it will have in 2013 when the new Big East debuts. "Were not finished," Big East Commissioner Mike Aresco said. "We obviously have some other plans for expansion." The Big East is also on the open market, trying to negotiate a pivotal new television contract. Aresco said that had to be put on hold for a few days as the conference regrouped after the latest defection. Boise State and San Diego State, currently in the Mountain West, are set to join for football only starting in 2013, anchoring the Big Easts new West Division. Also on schedule to join next season are current C-USA members SMU, Houston, Memphis and Central Florida. Navy has committed to join the Big East for football in 2015. The conference had planned to find a 14th member to balance out its divisions even before Rutgers left. BYU and Air Force were top targets for that spot. Aresco said that the Big East could even expand to 16 members, depending on what schools are available. "We have to let that play out," he said. Officials from San Diego State and Boise State have said they are still committed to joining the Big East. Boise State President Robert Kustra reiterated that position in a statement Tuesday. "The Big East is proactively responding to the national changes in conference affiliations, and Boise State remains committed to building and competing in a strong Big East future," he said. Boise State and SDSU officials have expressed a desire for the conference to add more schools out West. "We absolutely will be looking at some western schools," Aresco said. The Big Easts membership also includes seven schools, including Georgetown and St. Johns, that either do not have football teams or dont compete at the FBS level, but have helped it become a premier basketball conference. Tulane seems an odd choice based on the schools recent performance in football and mens basketball, the two most prominent sports. The Green Wave havent been to a bowl game since 2002 and last made the NCAA mens basketball tournament in 1995. Tulane just completed a 2-10 football season under first-year coach Curtis Johnson. It hasnt always been this way for Tulane. Cowen said in the decade before Hurricane Katrina devastated the school in 2005, forcing it to shut down for a semester, Tulane won more sports championships than any program in C-USA. Cowen said it took three years for the university to fully recover. "Once we recovered financially and academically, we invested heavily in athletics," he said. He said the school has sunk $125 million into the athletic department for facilities and coaches. Tulane will open a new on-campus football stadium in 2014, which the school hopes will rejuvenate interest in the team. The Green Wave currently play their home football games in the Superdome but have struggled to draw fans. Tulanes average attendance for home games was 18,085 this season. The Big East has been trying to gather as many major television markets as possible and New Orleans comes in at 53rd-largest in the country. Tulane also provides a regional rival for Memphis. East Carolina has been a consistent winner in football and looked to get in the Big East for years. The Pirates have played in a bowl five out of the last six years and finished 8-4 this season, just missing out on a trip to the C-USA title game. The Pirates also have no problem drawing fans, with an average attendance of more than 47,000 per home game. Holland said East Carolinas next step is to find an "equally exciting and competitive environment for the 18 sports other than football." Conference USA had already replaced the previously announced departing members. Next season Louisiana Tech, Florida International, North Texas and Texas-San Antonio will join C-USA, giving it 16 football schools. In 2014, Old Dominion will join C-USA, and Charlotte is scheduled to join with its fledgling football program in 2015. "To be clear, we have several options but no new member agreements have been made at this time," C-USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky said. "We appreciate the support of our members and will immediately begin a presidentially led process to evaluate our future options." wholesale jerseys from china . Ben Street and Krys Kolanos had the other goals for Abbotsford (16-8-6), while Danny Taylor made 25 saves for the win. Darren Archibald and Zach Miskovic replied for Chicago (13-11-4), while Matt Climie stopped 24 shots in net. wholesale nfl jerseys . They sure look like one of the top teams out West. David Lee had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and the Warriors beat the listless Atlanta Hawks 115-93 on Saturday night. http://www.chinanfljerseyswholesal... . The Bayern Munich player fractured his left foot in July and was unlikely to recover in time for the Sept. 11 Group C game in Vienna. "Alaba wont be added to the squad even if he gets fit just in time," Koller said Tuesday. [url=http://www.chinanfljerseyswholesale.com/]wholesale jerseys . Diamond, from Guelph, Ont., was immediately ejected after the left-handers pitch behind Hamiltons head in the third inning of Thursday nights game. The suspension and undisclosed fine were announced by Joe Garagiola Jr. cheap jerseys from china . -- Tom Brady went to work and left with a win and a nose job. ATLANTA -- Jannero Pargo hopes hell be spending the rest of the season with the Atlanta Hawks. Maybe after his 10-day contract expires, Pargo will get his wish. "I would rather have been here from the beginning of the year, but I love this team," he said. "Its a great team, a great group of guys. Its like I never left." Al Horford scored a season-high 28 points, Pargo had 16 and the Atlanta Hawks snapped a two-game slide with a 104-96 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday. Derrick Williams finished with 17 points and Jose Barea had 14 for Minnesota, which lost for the sixth time in seven games after blowing an 18-point lead in the second quarter. Injuries at guard forced the Hawks to sign Pargo to a 10-day contract earlier Monday, and he did not disappoint. The 33-year-old, nine-year NBA journeyman hit a 3-pointer from the left corner with 5:26 remaining to give the Hawks their first lead since the 9:40 mark of the first quarter. Pargo, who worked out for the Hawks on Sunday, has been playing pickup games in his adopted hometown of Chicago to stay in shape and hopefully get another chance in the NBA. He played his last game on Nov. 14 during a 10-game contract Washington. Pargo credited Kyle Korvers 11 points in the third quarter with helping him feel comfortable to take open shots in the fourth. He was 5 for 7 from the field in the final period and hit four 3s. "I think Kyle did a great job of being aggressive and knocking down shots," Pargo said. "That definitely made it a lot easier for myself and lot of other guys to take those shots with confidence." Horford pulled down 10 rebounds, and Jeff Teague handed out 10 assists with nine points to help the Hawks win for the third time in 11 games. Atlantas depth problems at guard are substantial with Lou Williams sidelined for the rest of the season because of a torn knee ligament, Devin Harris nursing a sprained left ankle and DeShawn Stevenson and Anthony Morrow held out again on Monday. Pargo, who played 500 games for Atlanta last season and seven with the Wizards this season, won on the floor 25 minutes as rookie John Jenkins failed to score after making his first career start.dddddddddddd "Its a relief to be able to have a guy like that," Horford said. "He was working out. He was in shape. He was a great teammate last year, and Im happy to have him back." Minnesota took its biggest lead at 18 points on Andrei Kirilenkos three-point play at the 4:49 mark of the second quarter, but the Hawks went on a 35-17 run that ended on rookie Mike Scotts dunk to force a 69-all tie at the 3:18 of the third. Korver added 14 points, Anthony Tolliver 11 and Josh Smith 10 for Atlanta. Scott set career highs with 11 points, seven rebounds and 22 minutes. Kirilenko and Dante Cunningham each scored 13 points, and Greg Stiemsma added 11 for the Timberwolves. Minnesota was without forward Kevin Love (hand), centre Nikola Pekovic (thigh) and guard Alexey Shved (ankle). Cunningham was a game-time decision because he had the flu. "We cant afford to lose anybody else," Derrick Williams said. "There are people playing with injuries. Like Ive been saying all year, the third quarter has been killing us and it did tonight again. As long as we pick it up in that quarter I think we can win more games." The Hawks outscored Minnesota 60-38 in the second half, shooting 23 for 31 from the field. Interim Timberwolves coach Terry Porter thought Pargo showed a lot of moxie in not hesitating to shoot. "He hit some big 3s, theres no doubt about it," Porter said. "He was in a good rhythm. He caused havoc defensively." NOTES: Porter, filling in while Rick Adelman cares for his sick wife, dropped to 2-6 since taking over. ... Atlanta tied a season high by shooting 57.7 per cent from the field. ... The Timberwolves have dropped five straight on the road and are 6-15 away from home. .... Eight of Atlantas 22 turnovers came in the first 9 minutes of the first quarter. ' ' '